Gluing it Together

The process of collage making transforms existing forms and combines together pictures and textures that often contrast, presenting us with multiple visual references. These fragments, culled from printed sources and photography, are juxtaposed and arranged onto one surface, conjuring humor and irony. For this online exhibition, we have compiled a variety of images from our extensive database that showcase the diversity of and versatility of this technique.

Exploring the power of reproduced imagery, particularly in this day and age—when inundated with online pictures, vis-à-vis a significant reduction in printed matter—brings up the following question: What makes this medium still so relevant in the digital age, and what is the future of collage making?

Creating from an existing source, the artist’s actions of cutting, collecting, arranging and pasting, offer endless combinations of shapes colors and lines. These disparate “ingredients” coming from multiple places, generate new meanings. And while the previous identity of the imagery may be gone, the recontextualized layout requires a deeper look, catching all the details of the composition.

Templates for Bird of Paradise Quilt Top. 1858-1863. Vicinity of Albany, New York, United States. Pencil on cut and pinned newspaper. approx. 11 × 8" each. Gift of the Trustees of the American Folk Art Museum. 1979.7.2A-K. Photo: John Parnell